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Gorillas Will Be Missed
Gorillas Will Be Missed is the thirteenth episode in the fourth season of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Main Characters The main characters featured in this episode are: *Kwame *Wheeler *Linka *Gi *Ma-Ti *Captain Planet *Goki *Laura *Looten Plunder *Argos Bleak *Gaia (disguised as Creole) Plot Synopsis In the distant future of 2197 Africa, Goki, a teenage Congolese boy, is given a special VR visor by a mysterious woman named Creole. Putting it on at home, he finds himself in Africa, two centuries into the past. Goki finds himself in a struggle between the Planeteers and Looten Plunder, who plots to destroy much of Africa's jungle to kill off the mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) for their hands and pelts. Episode Summary The episode begins in 22nd-century Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) in Africa, in a bleak and barren city choked with pests and pollution. A teenage boy, Goki, plays a virtual reality game, but is interrupted by his younger sister Laura, who wants to play with him and her stuffed toy gorilla, Kong. Goki is dismissive of his sister's requests, stating that gorillas are only a myth and people no longer believe in them. He decides to take a walk, encountering a mysterious woman who hounds him wherever he goes. The woman introduces herself as Creole and offers Goki a virtual reality visor, inviting him on "the adventure of a lifetime". Goki accepts, believing it to be a game. Creole tells Goki the adventure is named "Legend of the Gorillas" and warns Goki that he "cannot succeed alone". Putting on the visor, Goki is immersed in the Planeteers' time, where he encounters Kwame and Wheeler as they rescue a baby mountain gorilla. Goki is surprised to see real gorillas, including a dead adult whose hands have been cut off by poachers. The two Planeteers are annoyed by Goki's apathetic attitude, as he believes he is in a game and doesn't take the threat of poachers seriously. Meanwhile, Linka, Ma-Ti and Gi attempt to reason with Africans hired by Looten Plunder, pleading with them to stop clearing their own rainforests. The Planeteers explain that clearing the forest and farming them would render them dead in a matter of years, and ruin the wildlife and their heritage. Plunder responds that farming would give the Africans jobs so they can feed their children, and orders the Africans to run the Planeteers down. The three are quickly surrounded by the bulldozers and machinery, then captured and brought to a shock. To their horror, Plunder reveals that his group has been killing off eastern gorillas they encounter, cutting off their hands to sell as souvenir ashtrays. After being chased by a buffalo and caught in a trap, Goki ends up rescued by Kwame and Wheeler, but ends up irritating them as a result of his belief that he's simply playing a game. Separating from the two, Goki realizes that he's not living a virtual experience through the visor and can't turn it off. Creole appears, reminding him that he "cannot succeed alone"; despite his complaints, she vanishes. Reluctantly, Goki decides to follow the Planeteers and manages to save Kwame from being run over by Plunder and Bleak. The three boys have an open chat, where Goki explains that he is from the 22nd century, and the Planeteers inform him that he's been sent back two centuries in time. Goki shows them his visor, which gives Kwame and Wheeler a view of Goki's ruined future. The Planeteers decide that they must regroup, leaving the baby gorilla in Goki's care. Gathering the hired Africans, Plunder orders them to burn the forest down to clear it faster before leaving to retrieve more gorilla paws. Kwame, Wheeler and Goki convince the Africans to stop by showing them visions through Goki's visor, and the workers have a change of heart, telling them where their friends are being held. Angered at the African's refusal, Plunder proceeds to burn the forest himself. Once Kwame and Wheeler rescue the other Planeteers, they summon Captain Planet who puts out the forest fire. The villains end up chased by a gorilla, to whom Goki returns the baby (which he has named "Kong" after his sister's toy). Goki realizes that his earlier preconceptions about gorillas and the Planeteers were wrong, and expresses his disappointment at having to return to his ruined future, having to leave the beautiful African forest and his new friends behind. Kwame promises to remember Goki as he puts the visor back on, and the Planeteers bid him farewell. Back in his own time, Goki is called by Laura, asking him to bring her to the forest and visit the gorillas; Goki realizes that his actions in the past have changed his time for the better as his city is a modernized metropolis existing in harmony with nature. Placing the visor on the table, he finds an Earth Planeteer ring; realizing what it is, he slips it on his finger and leaves with his sister to visit the gorillas. A final vision in the visor reveals Creole to be none other than the mother of Earth herself Gaia, welcoming the new Planeteer back to his own time. Planeteer Alerts Wheeler: Did you know that car radiator fluid can be fatal to animals if they lick it or drink it? Gi: Unfortunately, animals like the taste of radiator fluid, so never let it drain in the driveway or gutter. Significant Moments and Facts *Goki is the future Planeteer; presumably with the power of Earth based on the color of the ring that Gaia gives to him. *Its unknown who the other 4 will be of the next set of planeteers to receive the next 4 Elemental power rings of the future. *The name Goki is Japanese, not African. Quotes *'Goki:' The Creole knew. *'Looten Plunder:' (to the Congolese villagers) Now, what's more important--a few mangy apes, or feeding your family? *'Congolese villager:' (to the Planeteers) Yeah, what about that? *'Ma-Ti:' Plunder does not care about either. *'Argos Bleak:' (after a 350-pound male silverback gorilla emerges from the bushes) That old silverback's pelt'll bring a fortune! *'Looten Plunder:' Not if it's shot full of holes! *'Argos Bleak:' I only need one shot. Ready...aim... *'Wheeler:' Fire! (his fire power knocks Bleak's gun out of his hands) *'Creole:' Remember, you cannot succeed alone. *'Creole:' Who said it was a game? I said it was the adventure of a lifetime. *'Wheeler:' (noticing Goki's wound) Whoa! You better let me bandage that arm. (does so) *'Goki:' (looking at the visor that Creole gave him) I don't know what is or isn't real anymore. This started out as a virtual reality game. The old woman who gave it to me called it "The Legend of the Gorillas". I thought it was just a myth about Africa in olden times, but it sure feels real. *'Kwame:' It is real to us. But maybe it is also a game. How does this work? *'Goki:' (hands Kwame the visor) I don't think it is working. *'Kwame:' (wearing the visor and seeing the town from Goki's time) What am I looking at? *'Goki:' Let me see. (puts the visor back on) It's my--my home. *'Kwame:' Goki, where do you come from? *'Goki:' Over there. Only in real life, there's a huge city here. *'Kwame:' Uh-huh. In what year? *'Goki:' 2197, of course. *'Wheeler:' Get outta here! That's 200 years from now! *'Goki:' Two centuries? *'Kwame:' (putting the visor back on) There is more to this visor than meets the eye--so to speak. This is more horrible than I could have imagined! *'Goki:' (to a Congolese villager who is about to help burn down the forest to clear the land for farming) Before you start that fire, take a look at the Africa you're going to create. (hands him the visor) *'Congolese villager:' (wearing the visor and seeing the city from Goki's time) Unbelievable! It feels like I am really here. But--this cannot be Africa. Where are the trees? *'Kwame:' You are about to burn them, remember? For farms that will fail. *'Congolese villager:' What is this? Some kind of trick? (Kwame puts the visor on another villager) *'Goki:' No. It's your children's future. *'Kwame:' There will be rats and roaches, instead of elephants and zebras. *'Goki:' And believe me, gorillas will be missed. (Wheeler puts the visor on a third villager) *'Congolese villager #3:' It cannot be! *'Kwame:' It will be! Unless you stop it right now! Gallery Add images here. Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes